This blog is for the promotion of Folk Music and the Folk Arts in Ohio the adjacent states and the rest of the world. There is a Google Calendar on which concerts and events can be seen. E mail your events to me and I will enter them for you. To have this blog sent to you by e mail please enter your e mail address and click subscribe.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

First off is the Ashville Open Mic Christmas party. 7pm Thursday 10 DecemberAlways a big event. There can be up to twenty performers on the sign up sheet and we hate to turn anyone down. In the past we have reduced everyone to two songs so as to get everyone in. This could well be the case again this year.

If you have not been for a while you will notice changes to the room. Still more to be done but much better.

I would advise that you come early. Why? Because this year each performers is being asked to perform at least one song in the style of a well know person. If you want to see John Locke make a fool of himself then be there for 7pm when he will be doing Early Morning Rain by Gorden Lightfoot in the style of Eminem.

We are also hoping there will be a repeat of last years Conga by Joan and Randi.

There will be lots of fun, so do not miss it.

$1000 Ashville talent competition.

The new owners of Papa Joe's are holding a talent competition. Contact Shannon at Papa Joe's at740-983-6100 for information

I had this message from Jamie Saine of WPA Music

I came across you Folkie Haven blog and know of a band you might be interested in. They\'ll be playing in Kent, Oh on Dec. 13.

WPA is Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) and Luke Bulla (Lyle Lovett, Jerry Douglas Band), transformed to an expandable collection of additional WPA members along the road, as individual band member schedules allow.

The band\'s sound is really one that needs to be heard as it incorporates influences from so many genres. Check out some of the live video on Youtube (on the glenphillipsofficial channel) or listen at www.wpamusic.com to see why the LA Times wrote, \"In songs that pulled equally from country, folk, rock, soul and pop, the group\'s sound was dense and full-bodied yet had a clarity that revealed the deep-seated craftiness of WPA\'s arrangements. As a veteran of any field knows, it takes years of effort to appear this effortless.\"

As I said, WPA will be playing in Kent, OH on Dec. 13 at The Kent Stage. We\'d love to have a write up about the group on Folkie Haven as well as having the show listed on your events calendar.

We found out at the last minute that they were at The Basement in downtown Columbus on Monday night so Dick Plunk and myself went down there.

What a good band and do these gents have fun.

The opening group is a complete contrast to WPA. Caravan of Thieves are astounding in their musical prowess, they do however in their musical brilliance seem to have lost the fact that it is fun. All movements seem to have been choreographed down to the last breath. If you want to see a group that will musically blow you away Caravan of Thieves will do it.

On the other hand if you want to see musical ability and good fun then WPA are a must. Each one of them could do a solo performance and you would be enthralled, put them together and you have a hell of a band. Because of the history of band members they do a wide selection of music from blue grass to folk to light rock. The interaction of the band members came over. They were having a good time and that feeling came over to a small, very knowledgeable, and appreciative audience. I had a great time and would go to hear them again at the drop of a hat.

The Biter Gets Bitten

You may be aware that the big music companies are clamping down on the little guy in that people are being made bankrupt because of legal action being taken for the slightest copyright infringement. The latest is that they have started insisting the some of the web sites showing chords and lyrics be removed.

Well the tables have turned and the big boys stand to be hit for around $6 Billion

Farewell to an Irish music legend: Liam Clancy, 74, dies in Cork hospitalBy Adam RichterDecember 04, 2009, 7:46PMFirst things first: The late Liam Clancy was NOT a brother of novelist Tom Clancy. The folk singer and onetime member of The Clancy Brothers was, however, a part of the Irish folk music revival in the United States in the late 1960s and '70s. If you go into an Irish-themed bar and see 20- and 30-somethings singing along to the traditional songs, chances are pretty good their parents had Clancy Brothers records on the family stereo growing up.

I sure did. My parents, both of Irish descent and both gigantic folk music fans, had probably every Clancy Brothers (with Tommy Makem) album that existed. Before I knew about Kiss and the Bee Gees, I knew about traditional Irish songs. "Rock 'n' Roll All Night" didn't enter my consciousness until well after "The Rising Of The Moon." I didn't know about "Jive Talkin'" but I did know the legend of "Finnegan's Wake."

According to the Associated Press, Liam and his brothers Tom and Patrick moved to New York in the mid 1950s to pursue acting careers. But it was their recording of old Irish rebel songs that brought them fame. The band played on Ed Sullivan, performed at Carnegie Hall and toured the world before breaking up in 1974.

Were they cheesy? A little bit. Did the Irish folk revival lead to a bunch of cornball imitators? Of course. But the Clancy Brothers also brought their home country's lyric tradition to a mainstream audience and made it possible for later generations to add to the genre. Without them, I wonder if we'd have The Pogues or the Dropkick Murphys.

Unfortunately for my wife and dog, I will probably insist on playing MY old Clancy Brothers records this weekend, in tribute to the last brother.

Here's a clip of Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem performing "Rambles of Spring," a lively little number that appeared on "The Makem and Clancy Collection" back in the 1980s

The Hard Tackers win Sea Shanty prize in Portsmouth Ohio.Here is a copy of the press release from the Southern Ohio Folk Alliance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOFA Awards Shantyman Trophy at Local Music Festival

Portsmouth, Ohio - December 6, 2009 - The high point of this year’s Port City Festival of River, Canal and Maritime Music occurred Saturday evening with the presentation of the Festival’s top honor - the Don Sherman Shantyman Cup.

The cup, a perpetual trophy named in honor of Scioto County native, and US Navy veteran, Don Sherman, is awarded to the group, or individual, whose sea shanty performance is judged to best uphold the time-honored traditions of maritime music. This year the coveted Shantyman Cup was awarded to The Hardtackers, a maritime musical group from Columbus, Ohio. Also performing at this year’s Festival were a number of local musicians and shantymen, including Shark Bait and the Irish-themed group Fir Ceoil na Mara.

Sea shanties are the songs used in the days of wind-powered ships to help sailors keep time while working. Totally dependent upon muscle power to work their ships, sea shanties were used by sailors to coordinate their efforts. Typical of work songs, most shanties were “call and response” songs with a “Shantyman” employed to lead the call. A talented Shantyman was a valued and respected member of the ships crew.

“We were really thrilled when a group of the caliber of The Hardtackers asked to participate in this year’s Festival. It really raised the bar for our local shantymen,” observed a spokesperson for SOFA - the Southern Ohio Folk Alliance.

The Festival, sponsored by the Sherman-Kricker Insurance Agency and the Port City Café and Pub, is an annual event presented by SOFA, a performing arts organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of folk and traditional music in the greater Portsmouth area. Anyone interested in learning more about SOFA is invited to attend one of the group’s meetings, which are held on the second Tuesday of each month, at 7:00pm, at the Port City Café and Pub, 424 Chillicothe Street.

We had a goooooood time down in Portsmouth (We arrived home around 2:30am) If you are in Portsmouth you must go to the Port City Cafe and Pub. It is with out doubt the best pub/bar I have been in since arriving in the USA. Note the Trophy????

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John